The Envy of the World

On 29 September 1946 the BBC Third Programme went on air, providing listeners with what the then Director General described as a high cultural level of programming. Written to celebrate the programmes's 50th anniversary, with unlimited access to the BBC's written and sound archives and the letters of such notable broadcasters as Bertrand Russell, Harold Nicolson and Dylan Thomas, and including excerpts from outstanding talks, documentries and drama, this book charts in detail the history of this very British institution and brings alive the personalities who have created the programme.